Plymouth Argyle (H) August 4th, 3.00pm

Even before the signings I wasn’t as pessimistic as some in here.

Walsall 3 - 1 Pilgrims (Cook(2) Zeli)

Feel like Cook will get a few scrappy goals off Ferrier initial shots.

I’m away up in Scotland so will miss this. I’ll hope for a 1-0 win. We may see a lot of these under Keates.

2-0 to us cook and new guy 1 point with the loans can thay be recalled at any time

after todays business i will re predict my earlier doom filled scoreline, i still think that the new players will take some time to bed in and get to know each others play, so i will now go for 0-1 :joy::joy::joy: only jesting i now think a draw :wink:

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday id have guessed we lose 3-1 but im excited after today’s signings so will go 1-1. Plymouth to score early and Cook to scramble one in late on.

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exactly what i have put on the prediction thread :joy:

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Clearly these lads were not options A or B but I wish them well. We now need an experienced midfielder and anther CB and we will be ok…perhaps Ferrier can become another Shinton or Wright!!! ( showing my age again).Incidentally I don’t think it was a bad thing for DK to aim high even though the signings did not come off. It shows he knows what is needed at this level .UTS

be nice to know who they were though ?

I think Ferrier was Option A as obviously we tried to get him a month ago. Wilson is the desperation signing - not saying he won’t be any good but it did seem a case of DK ringing up Darren Moore and asking who he could give us!

Fitzwater and Guthrie are together not a League 1 pairing and I would hope a commanding centre half with more experience could come in. I don’t see Guthrie being here next Season.

A bit harsh I feel .He played every game and in my opinion improved as the season went on.He and Fitz formed a very decent partnership.

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Yep I agree, quite harsh on Guthrie. Taking the Wigan game out of the equation, as it was Fitzwater’s debut and the first match post Whitney with Keates taking a watching brief, after that this pairing only conceded 7 goals in the last 8 matches. Before that, we had been haemorrhaging goals, shipping 3 a game with alarming regularity to the likes of Rochdale and Southend.

Edit: Apologies it wasnt his debut, I didn’t realise he signed as far back as February! However he was in and out of the side for a while and only really nailed his place down under Keates. But I stand corrected.

I saw enough at the backend of the campaign to think that Fitz and Guthrie had a good partnership. Fitz is also a good talker, where Guthrie isn’t so much, and despite his tender years, Fitz was marshalling our leaky defence really well in those last few games. Now with a familiar fullback next to him too, I’m confident that we may start to keep more clean sheets.

Don’t agree on Guthrie…he played every minute of every game last and improved as the season went on. When Fitz came in they were a good partnership…I agree though we need a further CB for competition purposes and to cover for injuries etc. A CM is also required. If it is true Baka. is on his way then we may be able to pay fees(small, of course).

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Also worth remembering Fitzwater has that Butler knack of getting the odd goal from corners so that’s another boost for what will probably be a low scoring season.

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Low scoring season? Respectfully, I think we will see more goals scored in the right end than we have seen for the last couple…

I think Guthrie was hampered by the fact Leahy and Devlin were poor and that Whitney liked them to be as far up the pitch as possible for as much as possible leaving him 3 on 2 at the back. Keates didn’t let the full back on the opposite side push on, always telling them to tuck in which made us more solid and Guthrie looked a better player

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Just going on how defensive Keates set the team up last season (although of course that was deep in a relegation battle).

Have also to see how quickly the void left by Ozzy is filled. Hopefully Ismail can step up by 30 goals scored by an attacking midfielder over last two seasons is hell of a lot to lose particularly as the other midfielders don’t really score.

Agree. It was far too easy to get the ball into our box from the flanks last year, hopefully playing with wingers will make us more compact.

I think Devlin and Leahy had too much responsibility to contribute to attacking phases last season, hopefully a focus on defensive duties and providing an overlap option for the wingers will improve their performances and that of the team.

We were spoilt with Jason McCarthy. He was such a massive player for us in Whit’s first season. As much as I quite like Leahy going forward, he’s nowhere near McCarthy’s standard. He’s being wasted at Barnsley.

Bloody excited for an afternoon down the Bescot - hope the lads put a shift in and we all get behind the lads. UTS.

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Starting line-up against Plymouth Argyle:-

Roberts

Devlin
Fitwater
Guthrie
Leahy

Ismail
Dobson
Chambers

Ginnelly
Ferrier
Cook

Substitutes … Morris, Dunn, Kinsella, Kouhyar, Candlin, Parker, Wilson

Bakayoko conspicuous by his absence!!